ARTICLES ABOUT MONK BY DATE - PAGE 2

Not long ago, Sauruv Garg "didn't know anything" about the man credited with helping introduce the Hindu faith to the West. But after poring over books, meeting with a monk and learning about the history of Hinduism in the U.S., 10-year-old Sauruv became something of an expert on Swami Vivekananda and his landmark speech nearly 120 years ago in Chicago. Sauruv, a soon-to-be fifth-grader from west suburban Itasca, used that knowledge to compete against more than 130 other elementary and middle school students from across the country this weekend in the national Dharma Bee - a kids' competition in Hillside named for the guiding ethical principles of the Hindu tradition.

A Benedictine monk charged with trying to lure several far north suburban girls into his car has been released on bond -- for a second time - and is now living with his father, authorities in Lake County said today. Judge Christopher Stride agreed on May 17 to lower bond for Thomas Chmura, 57, from $150,000 to the original amount of $50,000 after Chmura found a new place to live, said defense attorney Robert Hauser. Chmura's original bond was revoked on May 2 when court officials checked the Wisconsin abbey where he had lived for more than 30 years and found children present, which violated conditions of the bond.

A Benedictine monk charged with trying to lure a far north suburban girl into his car may have “mental health issues,” a prosecutor said in a Lake County Circuit Court today. Thomas Chmura, 57, who resides at St. Benedict's Abbey in Benet Lake, Wis., has been in the Lake County Jail since May 2, when his bond was revoked. Authorities said that during a routine check of the abbey by court officials, children were found to be present in the complex - a violation of his bond. The abbot of the Abbey, Edmund Boyce, had posted the required 10 percent of Chmura's $50,000 bond on April 28, court records indicate.

A Benedictine monk accused of trying to lure a suburban girl into his car is back in Lake County Jail after a judge revoked his bond. Thomas Chmura, 57, who resides at St. Benedict's Abbey in Benet Lake, Wis., is charged with felony attempted child abduction and misdemeanor disorderly conduct. He was ordered back to jail Thursday after authorities said that, during a routine check of the abbey by court officials, children were found to be present in the complex. That violated the conditions of Chmura's bond, which forbids him contact with anyone under the age of 17, prosecutors and police said.

The Benedictine monk accused of trying to abduct a 14-year-old girl in far north suburban Antioch last week is free on bail. Thomas Chmura, 57, who resides at St. Benedict's Abbey in Benet Lake, Wis., just across the state line, , is charged with felony attempted child abduction and disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor, authorities said. Records indicate someone else who lives at the abbey paid the $5,000 required to bail Chmura out of jail. Appearing in street clothes at a court hearing Tuesday in Lake County, Chmura told a judge, "I heard and I understand everything," when asked if he understood the terms of his release.

A judge set bail Saturday at $50,000 for a longtime Benedictine monk accused of trying to abduct a 14-year-old girl in far north suburban Antioch, authorities said. Thomas M. Chmura, 57, of the 12600 block of 224th Avenue in Benet Lake, Wis., allegedly tried to lure the girl into his station wagon last week — first by asking her if she needed a ride, then demanding that she get in, according to a statement from Antioch police. The girl ran and later gave authorities a description of Chmura, who was stopped in his vehicle and arrested Friday.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Buddhist monk Yoshinobu Fujioka enjoys bringing his congregation together, one cocktail at a time. Fujioka owns the 23-seat "Vowz Bar" in central Tokyo, where Buddhist chants replace karaoke songs and the shaven-headed bartenders serve up sermons and homilies along with the drinks. "People would gather in a Buddhist temple and drink together, we've just updated the tradition to fit our times", said Fujioka, who also works at a temple just outside Tokyo.

It's no wonder Luis Bunuel wanted to turn "The Monk" into a movie. Once banned, now merely cherished, the 1796 novel is a lurid amalgam of religious devotion and sin, earthly temptations and supernatural doings. Bunuel never made his movie, but there have been numerous adaptations. The latest, from French director Dominik Moll, is a work whose elegant atmospherics ultimately overwhelm the story, even with the terrific Vincent Cassel in the title role. Moll's version, arriving stateside almost two years after it opened in France, is a decided change of pace for the director of "With a Friend Like Harry," and new territory for Cassel too. He's a usually kinetic performer with a devilish gleam in his eye, and the chance to watch him play the role of Ambrosio with intense stillness is the film's chief pleasure.